How did Yingluck, Thaksin’s admitted “clone,” become such a success?

Thailand’s Yingluck Shinawatra Turning From ‘Stopgap’ to a Lasting Presence – asiasociety.org, September 25, 2012
…How could a political neophyte who had never run for elected office seriously become prime minister? And more importantly, how could this businesswoman in her mid-40s be anything but a front for her older brother, self-exiled former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup? Yingluck was not even an executive member of Pheu Thai, let alone the party’s leader — and Thaksin himself referred to her patronizingly as his “clone.”
But after a runaway election win, Yingluck confounded many of her critics with her winning personality, non-confrontational style, and easy rapport with Thailand’s traditional institutions, including the military, the privy council and the all-important monarchy — with whom Thaksin had long been at loggerheads…